Britain has imposed new sanctions on Putin’s ally accused of mass abduction of Ukrainian children, and on the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Ukraine has accused Russia of deporting more than 232,000 children to its territory, with more than 2,000 of them orphaned or separated from their parents
Britain yesterday (Thursday) imposed new sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s ally, she was accused of ‘supervising’ the mass abduction of Ukrainian children. Maria Levova-Beluba, who serves as Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, is involved in the abduction and forced adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia. During Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian orphans were taken from the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine with the intention of turning them into Russian citizens.
Ukraine has accused Russia of deporting more than 232,000 children to its territory, with more than 2,000 of them orphaned or separated from their parents. Ukraine has also opposed moves by the Russian parliament to force the adoption of Ukrainian children by Russian families.
The new British sanctions announced yesterday by Foreign Minister Liz Truss are also aimed at Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church. He is a longtime ally of Putin and has become one of the most prominent supporters of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Additional sanctions were imposed on the head of a Russian transport company, Russian military commanders and Ukrainian separatist leaders accused of collaborating with Russian forces in the Kherson region.
The British Foreign Secretary said, “We are imposing sanctions on those involved in Putin’s war, they have brought unbearable suffering to Ukraine, including forced transfer and adoption of children, we are not tired of defending freedom and democracy, and continuing to put pressure on Putin, until Ukraine succeeds.”
Ms Levuba-Beluba is accused of allowing 2,000 orphaned children to be forcibly taken from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine and has set a new policy to facilitate the adoption of their coercion in Russia.
She was photographed in a meeting with Putin in early March, already in the first weeks of the Russian president’s barbaric attack on Ukraine. They met to discuss changes in the law that would allow Russians to adopt Ukrainian children. Patriarch Kirill also supports the war, he hugged the Russian president in April at the Easter ceremony in Moscow.